Bangladesh Factory Collapse Death Toll Crosses 1,000

May 10, 2013

The death toll in last month’s collapse in Bangladesh of an eight-story building that housed garment factories has crossed 1,000.

Officials said 1,021 bodies had been pulled from the rubble, according to The Associated Press. It’s unclear what the final toll will be from the April 24 disaster outside the capital, Dhaka; more than 2,500 people have been rescued since the collapse.

As NPR’s Scott Neuman wrote Wednesday, “The April 24 collapse of Rana Plaza, where apparel was made for several Western retailers, has sparked an international outcry over substandard working conditions in Bangladesh, where workers have some of the lowest wages in the world and the garment industry is largely unregulated.”

The collapse was blamed on poor construction and safety regulations that were flouted.

But some of the strongest opposition to laws being enforced to prevent such tragedies come, as NPR’s Jim Zarroli reported, from the country’s powerful garment sector.

Several people have been arrested since the building’s collapse, including the man who owned it.

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